Tailpiece for stringed musical instruments



June 22 ,1926 1,589,755 A. D. GROVER murmur: FOR s'rmugmn MUSICAL msrnuuau'rs Original Filed Dec. 14. 1921 ezivnin? Jllbertfl. Graven Patented June 22, 1926.

UNITED STATES ALBERT n. enovnn, or LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK.

TAiLrinoE non s'rnmonn MUSICAL museums;

Application filed December 14, 1921, Serial No. 522,205.

My invention relates to improvements in tail pieces torstriiiged musical instruments. One object of the invention isto provide a Orin of tail piece by means of which the 6 strings the instrument will be adequately tensioned in proziiniity to the bridge, Without danger of rupture to the strings as the result of the tensioning effect. Another object of the invention to construct the string securing part of the tailpiece as to adapt it for receiving strings with looped en s or wire or gnt strin s with plain ends, all t rayi1'1g or cutting o the strings being eliminated. A further object is the provisi nple and effect ve nieans by which the tail piece may be securely attached to varions kinds of stringed instrumentswitlimodifying the strncture of the device. A still further object of the invention is to en l y si pl en mpr t r ta aofi siwh t p s s wh s by. their ma ef-e 'tu ei ren r l met ec i i a a heretofore, and their use made more satisetmr...

The invention consists of certain novel structural features and coordinated elements off construction as will be hereinafter fully described, and defined by the appended im Illustrative embodiments ofthe invention areishown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. lis a plan view of a fragment of {stringed musical instrument, a banjo in this instance, with the improved tail piece applied thereto; 2 is a substancentral vertical section through Fig. i; fig. 3 is a rear end elevation of Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a planet the completed blank, which when termed, constitutes the string secnr ing mernber of the tail piece; Fig- 5 is :g longitndinal section on the line 5 5 of f1; Rig. 6 is a; cross section on the line :6 Qt s 331 1 Fie; s WY iQQ e tiorrof a slightly modified form of the immo e til-i1 piec The general configuration of the tail piece is angular in cross section a'nd the device comprises the top er head plate 10 and the rear or rini plate 11, these parts being preferably integral with andsubstanti-ally at right angles to each other, the terms hefad late? andri n plate? being arbitrarily se ected to indicate rather generally tha je e n e ar'e arr n adjacent h h ad. and; ripe, respectively, of the. banjo.

The plate 10 has depending men-forcing Renewed May 5 192 6.

flanges 12 which, when the tail piece is in position on the instriiiiient, eXte'nd farall'cl to and are somewhat spaced from tie hea'd A of such instrument. Near its forward end the plate 10 is provided with an elongated transverse slot 13, and in advance of this slot the front edgof the plate 10 is fashioned into a substantially egee-s'haped curve 14, the downward dip of the ortion 14; bein ne rest the bridge 15 over which the strings 16 pass. A best shown in Fig. 2 the strings 16 are tnsioiied by p s-singer] der the end 14 of the tail piece, and as this end is rounded in a direction generall paralleling the length of the string, the latter is held taut and close to thehead A biit without being subjected to any appreciable abrasion by contact with 1,4

The im plate 11 is provided ma ntain projections 1-7, and struck out iroin the web of the late 11 is a lug 18 which is desig ed to rest against the rim of the banjo and prevent the plate 10' from being raised by the pull of the strings 16 thereon.

At its lower end the late 11 is provided with a flan e I9 s'uitablg Qrificdto' receive the threaded bolt 20 which passes through the internally threaded 111g 21 corninon to all Simila stringed instr ments. The flange 19 is held on the bolt 20 by collars 22 and the bolt itself is secured against accidental rotation by the guard nut 23 and the check nut 24;. By means of the arrangeinnt just described the tailpiece is held rigidly in position, so that displacemeiit of the strings is prevented. I I I, r

The string holder, which is well illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6,cornprises the body portion 25 and the string receiving prongs which will be presently described. Struck tip from thefbody 25 are lugs or ears 26 which are designed to bepassed through s1otsj27 inthe riin plate 11 (Fig, v6), and thereafter clinched or bent over whereby the string holder is firmly secured to the platell. As hown in 'Fig. 6 when the ears 26 are bent ever they contact with the; top hoopof the banjo and thus assistin preventing the tail piece from rocking transversely. V

At one edge the string holder is provided with prongs or forked projections 28, and between each two adjacent prongs I forinv a slot 29 terminating in a rounded orifice 30. As is well known sortie string have looped ends, others knotted ends,- andstill others plain ends, and the string holder described and illustrated is adapted to receive any of these ends. It a string with a looped end is to be attached to the string holder such looped end is passed over one of the prongs 28 and come to rest in the orilices 30. In Figs. 1 and 3, the manner of securing a looped end is indicated at X, the two end strings being of the looped end type. If a string with a knotted end is to be secured in position, the three intermediate strings in Figs. 1 and 3. designated Y, being of this variety, the portion of the string immediately next to the knot is passed into the bifurcation in one of the prongs 28 so that the knot finds a purchase against the underface of the material of the string holder adjacent the slot in the prong. Vv hen the string is tensioned its knotted end is firmly anchored as will be readily apparent without further explanation. If the end of the string is entirely plain, that is without either a knot or a loop,the desirable manner of securing the same consists in passing the end of the string into one of the openings between the tines of the prong, then winding a short length of the end upon itself, the orifices 30 being used for this purpose and in this manner the string when tensioned will be firmly secured in position.

For the purpose of preventing injury to the clothing of the player, I find it expedient to provide a cover for the tail piece, this cover being indicated at 31 and comprising a housing with lateral slotted guides or extensions 32 which are designed to en gage the lateral projections 17 of the rim plate 11. In cross sect-ion this cover has the general contour ofthe tail piece and may be readily moved into and out of engagement with the latter.

In Figs. 1 to 6 I have shown a type oil tail piece in which the lug 18 is not mov able in relation to the rim plate so that the spacing between the rim plate and the banjo rim remains constant after the device is once applied to the instrument. Tail pieces of this construction are usually supplied to mamrt'acturers or" instruments, and the tail piece is in position when the instrument is sold. In Fig. 7 I have shown a form of device i which a screw 18 which corre sponds in function to the lug 18, may be turned in one direction or the other to ad just the distance of the rim plate from the banjo rim, as desired, and this type of tail piece is usually supplied to dealers who either sell the tail piece separately or who may wish to apply it to instruments of various makes. By providing the movable screw 18 the tail piece is made applicable to various types of instruments with the possibility of securing adjustment best suited to the instrument to which the device is applied. It will be understood that the purpose of the adjustment contemplated is to keep the head plate 10 substantiallyparallel to the head of the instrument so as to properly tension the strings.

I desire, also, to call attention to the fact that the string holder may be readily applied to and removed from the tail piece, and consequently string holders having a greater or less number of string receiving instrumentalities than illustrated may be quickly and easily placed in position.

I have found by extended use of a tail piece such as herein described that it tends to very materially increase the tonal value and volume of the instrument to which it'is applied, and that it is very economical in the matter of strings as the latter are not frayed or cut as is so frequently the case with tail pieces as at present constructed.

I claim 1. In a tail piece for musical stringed instruments, the combination of a head plate, a rim plate integral therewith and having a slotted end portion disposed at an angle to the rim plate, and an adjustable member comprising a screw having a grooved head portion, the lateral walls of which engage above and below the walls of the slot in the end portion.

2. A tail piece for musical stringed instruments, comprising integral head and rim plates substantially at right angles to each other, said head plate having a transverse string receiving slot adjacent its front end, a substantially ogee curved front edge on said head plate, reenforcing flanges carried by the head plate, and means for securing the ends of the strings to said tail piece.

3. A tail piece for musical stringed instruments, comprising a head plate, a rim plate having slots therein, string securing means comprising a web portion having ears engaged in said slots, and string holding slotted projections integral with and extending at right angles to said web portion.

4. A tail piece for musical stringed instrumeets, comprising a head plate and a rim. plate having lateral extensions, string securing means caried by said rim plate, and a removable tail piece cover having lateral guide grooves embracing said lateral eaten sicns whereby relative movement of the cover is limited to the direction of the grooves.

5. A. tail piece for musical stringed instru ments, comprising a head plate, a rim plate, a lateral project-ion struck up from the rim plate for spacing the rim plate from the instrument rim, and string securing means carried by the tail piece.

6. A tail piece for musical stringed instru-' ments, comprising a head plate, a rim plate having slots therein, string securing means, and projections on said string securing means passing through the slots in the rim plate and retaining the string securing means in position on the rim plate.

plate integral one with the other, and means for holding the head plate in parallelism with the head of the instrument, said means comprising a single tab struck up from the rim plate and extending at right angles from the central line of the rim plate into direct engagement with the rim of the instrument.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

ALBERT D. GROVER. 

